


Coffee and Turtle, like you and I

by Reader_as_YourName20



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Author attempted to be funny, Author played the challenge of HOW MANY MUSICAL REFERENCE I CAN PUT IN THIS THING?, College AU, F/M, Let's all find out folks!, Original Character - Freeform, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:28:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27759163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reader_as_YourName20/pseuds/Reader_as_YourName20
Summary: Lydia Helena William is suffering under stress, college life is really taking a toll on her.John Laurens has a crush.Peggy just really want her OTP to get together.Angelica is a Queen, we all love her.Eliza and Alexander is also OTP.Lafayette and Hercules is just here to enjoy life and continue their bromance with a Schuyler in the picture UwU
Relationships: Alexander Hamilton/Elizabeth "Eliza" Schuyler, John Laurens/Lydia Helena William, John Laurens/OC
Kudos: 3





	Coffee and Turtle, like you and I

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS FOR YOU DOVE, I LOVE YA!

**Chapter 1**

> Lydia had always deemed herself as a person of no regret, no matter the circumstances that brought her to today. Yesterday’s problem doesn’t matter too much for her, as one’s action today will be what defines them tomorrow.

She also has a very keen opinion about taking chances and not having regrets.

“The thing with opportunity is that _you_ have to know which one to grab and never let go.” is what she would say. 

After all, chances are not provided everyday -not to everyone. Lydia learned that from Antonina -her mother that shared stories about the risk she was hesitant to take all those years ago before meeting Nicholas, Lydia’s father. She told all of it to her 8 years old daughter.

And the concept of never having regret left its mark on Lydia ever since.

It became one of the reasons why, back when she was little, Lydia was all over the place in school. She studied and pursued various sports, unable to decide which one to take as an opportunity to learn anything was opened to her.

It was allowed until she finished middle school, but entering High School was when her father stepped in and disciplined her to prioritize her studies over hobbies.

And even now, she still has the same… behavior that her father heavily disapproved of.

It was in the middle of her first semester as a first year college student, and her day started like the others. Routines are being made while she’s trying on a new style of clothes when she receives an email from the Dean himself, calling her to the office.

She remembers being nervous when the secretary mentioned to her that Lydia had to wait for nine more students before she can proceed to the meeting with the university’s council members.

And then, they came in one by one -Aaron Burr, George Washington, Angelica Schuyler, and six others -and they all waited in silence with bated breath. Each one none the wiser with the reason they were being gathered.

The meeting with the Council wasn’t as nerve-wracking as Lydia made it up in her mind, as they were all eased to relax -none of them was in trouble, they said -but the importance of their private affair was stressed since the start.

Lydia can’t believe that she was among the selected students to experience what the UGC is experimenting with. A chance to study two courses. And they wanted to try slow, one university before extending the possibility to other institutes.

So, of course, Lydia didn’t let the opportunity slip away from her grasp.

This is something she kept from Alexander -she has to, as her contract with the school explicitly told Lydia not to talk about it with anyone in and outside the university’s staff since the UGC didn’t want public attention and opinion just yet.

It’s a risk she willingly takes, but a confrontation she has yet to meet head on.

This is why she’s working in the Cafe Shop instead of being in the comfort of her dorm’s wall. 

Well, _that_ and, for some odd reason, Eliza and Alexander had rekindled their honeymoon phrase, or so to say. And no, they’re not married yet. Despite how fast they started dating, both shared the same opinion about marrying early which is, yes, _surprising_.

Nevertheless, they can be lovey-dovey all they want but Lydia didn’t want to be there to witness it all.

Anyways, Lydia had been very lucky indeed -but right now, as she looks at the massive workload she needs to get done, she feels like she could stab someone and commit arson.

It’s a very tempting concept to burn a school in response to the email she’s rereading right now.

Two week. 

Lydia only has ‘till fortnight to get everything done.

She’s going to have to work her ass off to get through her law program, studying for the exams mid-December _while_ also needing to complete the creative writing her Professor kindly reminded her through an email.

And yes, she still doesn’t have any regret.

What she has is stress and a migraine.

She spend all night planning this through, stayed up all night organizing the pile of work so she’d get things done accordingly, yet she still couldn’t even squeeze in a time to dress up fashionably -which is an telling sign, for whoever might know Lydia Helena William, to get as far as possible or you might get punched on the guts when she’s trying to release a bundled frustration because of all busy work.

Still, she tried to be casual by wearing a big and loose hoodie. There’s also a cute turtle that had a helicopter's rotor blade attached on its shell with a text that said “What do you call a flying turtle? A shellacaptor!” printed on the front. 

It’s her comfort top that she hadn’t washed since using it for three day -and yeah, don’t start looking at her with your judgy eyes now. You lots probably do the same and are just in denial.

Honestly, overall she just looked like she hadn’t changed out of her pyjamas and no one really cared or bothered her about it -welcome to college life, where everyone is too tired to give a shit about everyone else.

“Did you even shower? Not that you stink, you just look like it.” Peggy Schuyler, on the other hand, never had a self-prevention instinct. “That look doesn’t work on me, honey.” she laughed, dismissing Lydia's glare, as she cleared a space on the table before placing down the beverage. “Here you go, Lele.”

It was a cup of latte that she usually ordered, and Lydia cooed at the drawing on the foam. 

A turtle with little hearts by its head. It’s her favourite animal -if it wasn’t obvious enough. _Obvious_ because it’s on all of her stuff, either a cute sticker or a drawing of her own.

She thought no one would even notice her -

“ _...obsession_.” Alexander gapes, eyes comically blinking along with each tick of the clock. “ _This is a concerning amount of… sea turtle._ ”

Lydia rolled her eyes, placing down her collection of turtle stuff toys on her bed. “ _Oh just piss off, you bastard._ ”

- **fondness** for the sea creature, so when she visited the Cafe Shop after getting back in the campus to continue her Senior year of her college life, she received a coffee art of a turtle saying hi.

That happened way back in August and each day Lydia comes to the Cafe Shop, her order will always have a little turtle drawn on it, on the foam or by the coffee sleeve.

Recently though, there would be little notes that come along with it, which started with a simple hello, then how-are-you, and it steadily turns to turtle jokes that never failed to brighten up Lydia’s day whenever she received one. 

It comes to the point that she’s looking forward to it everyday, hurting her own allowance for the sake of having a cup of joe a day and a new addition to pin on her memo board back to the dorm.

The addition being the notes -which Peggy hands her with a knowing smirk.

“From you-know-who.” Peggy winked and sashay away, humming to herself.

Margaret “Peggy” Schuyler is the youngest daughter of the university’s current Dean, Philip John Schuyler. She just started her second year this semester. Unlike Angelica and Eliza, but only because the Schuyler Sisters each have a year gap separating them.

Lydia learned that Peggy’s appearance -her baby face and puffy cheeks that Lydia can squeeze all week and never get tired of -made the young woman a suitable bullied material, a story Peggy told Lydia herself. 

That had been an eye-opening experience for Peggy.

It breaks Lydia’s heart to learn about her friend’s past, thus she becomes a consultant whenever Peggy needs someone to lean on.

Peggy has her sisters and she loves them very much but, after being left to go through High School alone, Peggy is trying to maintain an independent approach to everything in her life -even studying and working a part time job in the Cafe despite her comfortable upbringing.

It’s what made Lydia sure that Peggy is one of a kind, and so she took the chance of becoming friends with the young woman. No regret with that decision whatsoever.

That’s why when the youngest Schuyler refuses to say who it is that’s been giving Lydia these special treatments, she lets her have her fun. 

Not only does she tease Lydia while being scratch-free, Peggy is always, eagerly, playing a role of a messenger _of love_ in this little “love story” Peggy insists that she’s sharing with this _secret admirer_.

Lydia tried antagonizing the Sophomore but it didn’t really give anything away, it just made Lydia look desperate! So she decided to let this play out on its own -just to give whoever this _admirer_ the chance to build up their courage without Lydia prying.

Rolling her eyes at the retreating figure of Peggy, Lydia unfolds the paper. 

“ **What do turtles need when riding a bicycle? A shellmet :3** ” it jokes, making her snort and break out into a laughing fit.

When she realizes how loud she’s being, Lydia immediately covers up her mouth and looks away to the glass window beside her table to avoid any eye contact. ‘ _That was embarrassing, what if they were watching me?_ ’

She cleared her throat, putting her concentration on her desktop to look busy and unaffected while, internally, she’s having a screaming fit with herself.

It’s not everyday she loses composure like that.

Pulling herself together by clearing her throat and straightening her back, Lydia tucked the small note between one the pages of her notebook. 

“Okay.” She hyped herself, taking a sip of the coffee. She feels the temperature go down her throat, the warmth spreading on her chest. “...Back to work.”

* * *

> A lot of things got done, but there’s still _more_ just waiting to be finished.

For days, Lydia returns to the Cafe Shop every morning, the booth she unofficially claimed to herself have become her concurrent workplace for the whole week.

And for each order she makes, a drawing of turtles and little notes keeps on coming her way. Peggy is happy to serve her orders to Lydia's table despite the establishment promoting self-service.

This makes Lydia’s day a little better -the notes keep coming in with new jokes to make her laugh. Peggy is also making sure she ate something, making Lydia forever grateful and encouraged to keep going.

That, or maybe it’s the caffeine she intaked, Lydia’s not sure at the moment.

Her current state and non-stop operation of getting things done as soon as possible become a worrisome topic for her friends, unknownst to Lydia. Everyone hadn’t seen her much, sans Eliza and Peggy, for the whole week. They hadn't even heard from her as well.

That’s why, as Friday afternoon comes by, Alexander, Hercules, and Lafayette stepped into the Cafe Shop looking for her. And she wasn’t really hard to miss, with Peggy pointing at where her table is - _and_ Lydia’s habit of aggressively-typing on her keyboard basically acting as a call for help.

The trio took slow and calculated steps, fear emitting from them as Lydia noticed them all packed together like a wad of bunnies, or perhaps the description of children caught with their hands inside the cookie jar is more easy to imagine.

And she glared, eyes briefly passing each pair of eyes. 

The girl has a steel, ice cold stare that makes even jocks steer away from her when she’s in such a mood. And unlike Peggy, these three had on-hand experience with the true scare-potential that Lydia can reach when she’s been wronged.

“Ma ami,” Lafayette called out, nervous, “...you look like a mess.” He squirmed when Lydia’s eyes rested on him. Still, bravely, he gestured to her slouching position. 

Her poor back looks like it might snap into two. And not only that, but the dark bag under her eyes indicates her lack of sleep and, not to mention, Lydia’s shaking like it hurts for her to stay still.

Her face was stoic, no muscle shift whatsoever, as the young woman responded. “Merci beaucoup pour le compliment, Lafayette.”

The trio exchanged glances, their concern growing as the minute tick by.

Alexander takes a deep breath, gathering his courage. “Lydia…?”

Lydia’s fingers paused, hovering over her keyboard. “What is it, Alex?”

“Do you think… maybe you should take a break?”

“No.” she quickly countered back, still with a deadpan expression, as she returned to typing without error. 

The lass didn’t even look away from the monitor.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Alexander murmurs to his friends.

“Yeah, we’ll hang over there.” Hercules, bless his soul, tried to whisper back but his orotund voice failed to do just that. 

He and Lafayette cowered away as Lydia looked up to glare at them again. They hurried to give Alexander and his sister some privacy, deciding to hang with Peggy as she watched them by the cashier.

Alexander sighs, pulling the hair on his face up to tie them together. “Can I sit with you?”

Lydia stretched her back, the action making a loud cracking noise. 

Alexander takes that as a yes. 

He looked at her work, wondering why some of the reference volumes on the table have nothing to do with their current individual projects, but Lydia closed those books shut when she saw him looking.

She placed it on the empty space beside her and returned to typing on her laptop.

“You’ve been very busy, huh?” he tried to start the conversation, frowning at the obvious hiding Lydia had been doing. She tends to store away her work when Alexander is around, and he never really questions why.

Lydia has a right to keep her privacy, even from him, but that doesn’t mean it never bothered Alexander so much as it does now. Still, he reminds himself that this doesn’t have to do with any of that, yet.

“It’s been five days, Lee.” Alexander tried again, and this time his fellow Senior paused. 

She looked at him with tired eyes. “I have to make sure I get everything done, Alex. You know that.”

“I do, of course.” His eyes soften as he reaches his hand over the table to take a hold of the girl’s hand, giving it a soft squeeze. “But you have to take this down a notch, lass. You look so tired.”

The way he spoke was gentle, easing her attention on him by talking slowly. And by how she’s frowning and staring at their entwined hands, Alexander is doing something right.

“I… I can’t stop now Alex.” She takes a deep breath, trying to cease her shaking, and looks away from his pleading eyes. “I have more things to get done.”

“You have to rest, Lee.”

“Can’t.” She shakes her head, releasing her hand from his to return them in their place above the keyboard.

She only managed to type-in a couple of words before Alexander let out a laugh. It’s not something that came out because of humor, but because of disbelief.

Lydia watched him curl a bit, arms squeezing his stomach, and his hair became ruffle as he shook his head.

“No wonder we get along so well, huh?” The Scot implied in-between his giggles. He takes a deep breath in as he combs his hand through his hair. 

The woman merely gave him a questioning gaze, her right eyebrow lifted. 

“You and I,” he said, explaining “with our infamous ‘ _I can’t throw away my shot_ ’ attitude, don’t you agree?”

“What about it?” 

“Hmm, well…” Alexander hums. “You see…”

He then proceeded to push the monitor down, shutting the device completely. He ignored her protesting “H-hey! Stop!” as he takes away the laptop from her grasp. Lydia’s stern “ _Alexander._ ” goes to one ear then out to another as he slapped her reaching hand.

They stared at each other, Lydia’s eyes scrutinizing while his own was aloof and filled with glee.

“I know you, Lydia.” Alexander continued, tucking the device to Lydia’s backpack. “You take after your parents.”

“You don’t know that.” Her voice is rough, the hands resting on the table are now knuckle white. For her kind eyes to become so cold told Alexander that she wasn’t liking the direction their conversation was going, but he’s persistent and just as determined as his sister is, and he won't be stopping until she takes a break. 

“I grew up with you, lass.” He faced her head on, meeting tired eyes with a subtle guise of love and affection. “It’s not hard to see the influence they have on you.”

She clenched her jaw, baring her teeth with a huff. Lydia's first mistake was listening to Alexander and the next was looking over their shared cycle of friends -who was watching from afar with the same expression on their faces.

Alexander grasps her by the chin, turning her head to face him. “They were quick to disregard you, but please don’t do the same to yourself, Lydia.”

The air she inhaled was another impression of her surprise, or a gesture to prevent the sudden moist of her eyes from becoming fallen tears.

Alexander watched as the same old stubbornness slowly disintegrated from Lydia’s eyes.

He gave her the time to recover, tidying her stuff without checking any of the details. With everything in the safety of her backpack, Alexander carried it on his back, standing up. 

Lydia hadn’t noticed she was gripping on a piece of paper the whole time and she remembered it being one of the notes that came along with the last coffee she ordered.

It was another turtle joke, but only now did she notice the little arrow below the message. Curiously, she turned the card. 

“ **< 3 You rlly worked so hard this week, I’m proud of you **

**But, and I know i don’t have the right to tell you what to do, please take a break soon** ”

A little turtle with a sad face was next to the message, which made Lydia smile for the second time today. The first time was when she saw their drawing of a turtle with a heart-shaped shell. 

She snaps out of her thought when she sees Alexander standing next to the table on the corner of her eyes. 

He patiently waited for her to look up.

And Alexander understands, when she did and he saw the glint on her brown eyes, that she’s ready to go. So, it only took Alexander reaching out his hand.

Lydia wiped her eyes, silently taking the offered hand. She didn’t say anything as the Scot escorted her out of the Cafe Shop. 

The last thing he made her do, with Lydia now tucked in her bed back to her dorm, was to promise that she’d take the chance to just relax on the weekend before telling her to sleep. 

She grumpily agreed.

Alexander waited until her breath even before heading out.

As he turned to leave, someone tagging his sleeve made him look down at the young woman holding into her turtle stuffed toy. 

Lydia didn’t have to say it, but Alexander understood.

“Love you too, sis.”

* * *

> There’s something eerie to be awake -like _genuinely be_ awake after a good and uninterrupted night rest -on the campus. It’s quiet in its own ways, like people are aware that others are busy or still asleep at such an early hour, but they don’t really make the effort to do things quietly. 

She’s used to not pay any of these a sober attention -because she doesn’t have the time to waste, not because she’s always drunk like the school’s local alcoholic Charles Lee -so it feels like she’s experience the dorm life for the first time as she takes a quick, but efficient, shower.

She has her supposed, and unofficially, adopted brother to blame for this of course. The bastard whose name can be seen written in bold and cursive _Alexander Hamilton_. 

It’s not publicly known that he’s the only remaining member to represent her family but Lydia never denied it if someone asked. 

They were 19 when they started college together, leaving their hometown by the Carribean to study here in America. And together with Alexander, Ldyia studies under Bachelor of Law, preparing to take the qualifying examinations to soon become a practicing lawyer. 

It’s a path her deceased father wanted for Lydia, and she’s bending hell and earth just to prove herself -that she’s capable of graduating with two academic degrees at the same time.

Her university’s law program was, unsurprisingly, hard ever since her freshman year. Both her and Alexander were prepared though, willing to support each other no matter what as they attended the same lectures, seminars and presentations, class debates and mooting sessions -even checking on each other when they’re separated because of group works.

It caused quite a rumor that they’re dating, but it died down as soon as Alexander wrote a two page letter to the campus’ gossip blog that runs on student’s juicy submissions. 

Endless to say, no one ever “ship” Lydia with Alexander again.

The whole shenanigan brought some spotlights on her, sadly, but Lydia never cared about popularity and let it die down on its own. Alexander did, however, which she understands. He never had such attention, even back home. 

She focused on her studies instead, brandishing under practical law training and developing sharp legal skills of research and analysis. Public Speaking wasn’t a problem either, having to master keeping her voice steady after the many occasions where Lydia talked to her mother’s customers back in their old tailor shop back in Charlestown.

Thankfully, Lydia manages to put her studies on-hand, as she’s provided the chance to work “pro bono” with her father’s old friends’ help. He stated it in his will about who to call, as the names listed there owed her old man some favors.

He wanted her to take advantage of these chances in his place, writing down that -despite their lack of bonding -he knew Lydia learned most with on-hand experience.

And, of course, she didn’t disappoint.

Returning to her room, Lydia starts to get dressed as her roommate softly snores in the background. 

Picking a dark-green high waist Capri, a polar fleece pullover jacket, and a black running shoes for her exercising attire. She checks herself on her full-body mirror, judging if the color isn’t blending well together as she hoped.

Approvingly, Lydia decided to take a picture. 

“Now, where did I leave my headphones?”

Lydia can’t remember, as the day ended yesterday and Alexander escorted her back to the dorm, she didn’t come out again after falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. 

Her searching haste made enough sounds to wake up her roomie, apparently.

“Morning.” yawned Elizabeth from her side of the room, sitting up with the most amusing bedhead hair ever.

It makes Lydia snicker, relating to the trouble one’s hair can bring. Unlike Eliza’s glossy straight hair though, Lydia’s brunette ones have always suffered an untamable reputation if not taken care of.

That’s why she makes time to braid it -which is rare. Those rare times happen to be done today, as Lydia early this morning. 

And instead of lazing around all day as she promised -because Alexander insisted that she deserve it -Lydia finds herself unable to go back to sleep after her phone goes off because of her 4 o’clock alarm, which she forgot to cancel last night.

So she decided that ‘ _You know what, I haven’t run for a month now_.’ and that today’s chance is the right time to get on with that again. She’s prepped -showered and dressed right -but her missing headphones is yet to be found. 

She paused her search, as Eliza’s face is beginning to show her eye-bags again.

Concern, Lydia asked, “Whoa, what time did you sleep?”

“I…I don’t really know.” Eliza yawned once again, “Oh, and I used your headphones. It’s under that, I think. Sorry, I know I should have asked you first but you already crashed by the time I got back.”

“Nah, it’s fine. No biggie.” Lydia merely shakes the apologies off, smiling as she pulls up a pillow to reveal her missing headphones. She already guessed that the girl must have stayed up late reviewing her thesis that’s due today.

“Aren’t you supposed to be on break, young lady?”

“I am, don’t worry.” she laughed, “Just heading out for a run. I’ll even grab you some coffee when I get back, yeah?”

“Oh that would be Godsend, Lele.” Eliza groans, merely using her hand to comb her hair after she stands up to stretch her exhausted person. “I’m gonna need to feel awake to make it through the day.”

“I know.” Lydia grins. “And I’m sure your presentation will blow us all away.”

“If only I have your confidence.” Eliza, still half asleep, gave a lazy kiss on Lydia’s cheek. “But thanks, you’re such a sweetheart, Lydia.”

It took her a long while to get used to such gestures from the young woman but after getting to know who Eliza Schuyler really is, especially how touchy she is with her sisters, Lydia finds her constant touching merely an affectionate gesture and nothing more.

“Alright, I’m going out first.” 

Eliza nods her head as she starts gathering her showering equipment. “ _Have fun_ ~”

With a single wave of her hand, Lydia rushes out of her shared dorm with one of the infamous Schuyler Sisters, Elizabeth “Eliza” Schuyler. Second to Angelica Schuyler and older than Margaret “Peggy” Schuyler. 

Their father is the university's Dean, which means that they were loaded, but for people with such upbringing, they were the most down-to-earth people Lydia have met. 

She becomes fast friends with the three of them, Eliza being her roommate's help with that. Lydia’s surprise at their individuality also washed off after a night well spent hanging out and getting to know the Schuyler Sisters.

Eliza is a sweetheart that is just trying to get through her college life while Angelica is the most aspired person Lydia has met, both are popular but Angelica has been the subject of gossip. 

Peggy is just as well known, even working a part-time job as a barista just so she can buy herself trending clothes -her and Lydia bond over fashion trends, browsing magazines together and comparing designs in secret.

Lydia, as previously mentioned, has a bit of a reputation of her own. Lots of the girls that are already out and going in the hall greeted her as she passed. She returns it, and by the time she’s out of the Girl’s Dormitory, her headphones are blaring her favorite tune.

Something is telling her that this day will be amazing.

* * *

> Lydia’s smile was wide as she cool off from running laps at the track by the Student Recreation Complex. 

Despite their persistent chatter, she waved goodbye to her running pals, already satisfied with her much needed run. 

It took her promising to hangout next time for them to let her leave peacefully, and Lydia doesn’t really mind. She does miss hanging out like they used to, like last year.

She felt so refreshed as she passed Warrior Lake, heading towards the Cafe Shop inside the campus to pick up Eliza’s coffee as she promised, also thinking of ordering one for herself.

It’s baffling how rejuvenating it is to think of nothing, to worry not about her projects and her thesis -to only focus on running. It’s like she’s exercising both her body and mind. 

Stimulating old habits like this felt anew -like breathing in a new life.

Inside, it’s warm. The environment is a colour of supermarket orange -glow of sunrise and warmth of a fire -with soft jazz pours from hidden speakers around the establishment.

The air is thick with the aroma of coffee and Lydia takes in a deep breath, sucking in the scent that lacks heavy pollution of the day traffic. Her lungs are loving the yeasty smell of warm bread being displayed. 

Taking off her headphones as she falls in line, Lydia notices how the music dulls out the chatter of the other students -making the sound of keys typing, pen scribbling, and essays being quoted a mere ambient -almost pleasant really.

She feels good, to be in such a familiar surrounding that reminds her of the days she was basically a walking zombie but, with just a sip of coffee, it makes her believe that she’ll thrive again for tomorrow.

Everyone would probably agree that this Cafe Shop has become everyone’s refuge. The all-nighters, busy students, and caffeine-addicts can be caught hanging around the area late at night, as the shop closes past midnight.

A true luxury, precious and much needed, that the student community just agreed to the unspoken-rule to never cause trouble anywhere nearby. They don’t want the place to be shut down by the school’s Dean, who gave the students their last warning the previous year.

Yeah, last year was really wild. No one’s gonna forget about that whole mess.

Lydia might not be in any rush like the other days, but she understood that everyone else in line needs to start their day as soon as possible. Not wanting to be the asshole who holds everyone on line, she began reciting her order under her breath.

At first, Lydia wasn’t worried about taking too long -thinking that she just had to tell Peggy that she’s picking hers and Eliza’s usual orders -but she soon realized that the youngest Schuyler is nowhere about. 

Someone else is stationed at the girl’s place, writing orders and making them.

As the person in front of Lydia stepped away, she was face-to-face with a guy that pulled his curly, light brown into a bun -or is it a ponytail? It’s really hard to tell because of the beanie on his head.

She took a quick glance at whoever was taking orders on the other line, only to see no baby-face Peggy. ‘ _She must have taken a day off_.’ Lydia figured, deciding that if she can, she’ll visit the other members of the Schuyler Sisters by the Girl’s Dormitory building-C.

Returning her eyes on the barista, Lydia believed that she levels him in 5’8 height. His freckles are alike hers, almost, as it’s crossing his face from either his ears while hers are scattered all over her face generously.

She also noticed that he’s growing a stubble beard that seems to itch, as the barista is using the top tip of his fountain pen to rub the skin next to his wide and plump lips. He’s also wearing a beanie that had a little turtle peeking out.

Lydia hadn’t known she’s been staring until someone loudly cleared their throat to get her attention, and she soon realized that it’s the barista trying to snap her out of it. His tired, blue eyes look at her expectantly, notepad and pen ready to take her order.

“Oh.” She blinks, cheeks flushing with momentary embarrassment. “ _Oh_! Sorry.” she apologized amid her own version of a smile. “Morning, am I right?” She chuckles, quicking reciting “Anyways, can I get a light roasted, medium sized, Piccolo Latte and a larged sized Mocha with an extra shot of espresso? On the go, please.”

He smiles, pardoning her obvious staring, and though the expression is a small shift of his face, it still gave away his good, patient personality. 

Lydia took the chance to read his nameplate as the barista wrote down her order. Jack, it said.

‘ _Huh._ ’ she tilted her head to the side. ‘ _He looks like a guy with a name Anthony_.’ but she kept this thought to herself as the barista repeated her order for verification.

“Can I get a name for these?”

By now, Lydia realizes that she’s not subtle while checking him out, but this time, she didn’t react caught off guard. Instead, she takes note of the glimmer in his eyes, like he asked that with another intention than to put a name on her order.

Nevertheless, she provided an answer with a twist. “Just Lele.”

And by the raising of his right eyebrow, she knows that he knew that it wasn’t really her name. However, the spark on his blue eyes -becoming clear cyan, almost. Maybe it’s because of the flicking light an employee is trying to fix nearby -got a little brighter and she watched carefully as his face relaxed while he wrote her supposed name on the cups.

“I’ll be right back with your orders.” he murmured.

A solid minute passed, the coffee machine buzzing over the other side while the barista busied himself with making her orders, before Lydia’s phone began ringing. And by the ringtone, she already knows who’s upcoming call it is.

She answered and, with a monotone, asked “What did he do this time?”

“What --?” Alexander shatters, a rare thing that never _not_ amuse Lydia, and clears his throat. “Lee, it’s me. This is Alexander.”

“What did _you_ do this time?”

Lydia heard someone else laugh on the other side, then a sound of someone wrestling the phone away. Lydia puts her phone away for a bit, chuckling as a yell of “Hey!” followed an offended screech of “Lafayette, bring that back!”

“Ma ami!” greeted Lafayette, making Lydia roll her eyes as she imagined that the Frenchman must be using his tall height to his advantage this very moment. “Bonjour!”

“Salut, french fries, comment ça va?”

“Ça va très bien, merci. Et toi?” 

“Bienvenue, ami.” Lydia can hear Alexander complaining in the background as she added. “Ju suis ça va. Now, why is Alex calling me?”

“Oh, well, we’re going to play ball and he mentioned z’at you are finally free today! Tu veux faire partie de mon équipe, oui?”

Lafayette asking her to be a part of the team made Lydia suspicious, since the boys don’t really invite her as their team of five is already complete. Not that she feels left out, since it’s partially her fault that she’s not available to play with them whenever they ask her to substitute.

And the Frenchman must have realized her hesitation, as he explained “Our friend, Laurens, iz busy today. Change of shift at work, I ‘eard. Now, we ‘ave no point guard, and we boz’ know Alexandre can’t steal z’e ball as quickly as you do.”

“Well excuse me for having enormous flaws that I don’t work on!” she heard Alexander yell out, making Lydia laugh -and she quickly covers her mouth, not wanting to gain the attention of sleep-deprived students. “Now can you give me back my phone?!”

A sound of someone snatching the phone and running with it goes through -and Lydia can imagine how Alexander must have jumped on his best friend to reclaim his phone before running with it like a little squirrel he is. 

“I’ll meet up with you guys later, I gotta give Eliza her coffee first and maybe change too.” she said over the phone as Alexander is heaving -trying to catch his breath.

“O-okay. I..ahh --” He panted. “I’ll pick you up by your dorm, bye Lee!” and he hung up. 

Lydia can only shake her head, knowing well that Alexander is just looking for an excuse to see his letter-sweetheart before she goes to class. He can be so sweet, despite his tendency to be extra.

“Piccolo Latte and Mocha for Just Lele.” was called out by the barista - _Jack -as_ he returned to the counter to pass Lydia her drinks. 

“Thanks,” She rolled her eyes in response to his antics, calling him “ _Jacky_.” which made the barista grin. “Nice hat, by the way.”

The comment must have taken him off guard, as the barista made a choking sound. He flushed, an obvious red on cheeks spreading down to his neck.

“Y-yeah, t-turtles I’mma right?”

Lydia recalls each serving she had in this establishment. It was always Peggy that delivered her drinks, sure, but there’s always someone by the counter she never really paid much attention to.

There’s other employees working by the counters, of course, but she’s pretty sure that this is the first time she interacted with this guy. “Are you new?”

“What?”

“Are you a new barista?” Lydia repeated.

“N-no.” Jack blinked, avoiding eye contact, which gave Lydia the chance to inspect him, putting attention on the way his hand was shaking as he held up a pen. 

“...Right.” She bobs her head slowly, “Well, thanks anyway.”

“Okay, s-see you again soon.” he said, giving her his best smile, a charming one, as Lydia stepped out of the line with her ordered beverage. 

And before she left the Cafe Shop, she curiously glanced over her shoulder to see that the barista is still looking at her with freckled cheeks scarlet under the light.

Meeting his blue eyes, he winked before putting his attention to the customer in front of him.

Lydia returns to her dorm, hoping her blush has ceased. 

She didn’t want to suddenly assume, but with Peggy’s lack of appearance and _Jack_ suddenly being there… Well, Lydia can promise you that she’ll never forget about this little fact.

She expected that Alexander would be “cuddling” with Eliza by the time she gets back. For a small guy like Alexander, with his short legs, he runs fast -imagine a guy running for his life, that’s how quick he can be.

Knocking before entering -because she doesn’t want to catch the lovebird in the middle of a makeout (not again) -Lydia enters to see that Eliza isn’t all wrapped up in Alexander’s arms as she expected. 

Instead, she’s going through her clothes like they’re burning, tossing them around as she looks for a suitable pairing. Checking the time, Lydia realizes that the Schuyler is soon to be late for class, explaining her haste.

She finds Alexander slouched by her desk with Eliza’s laptop close to his face, reviewing his girlfriend’s thesis, Lydia figures.

He’s wearing a tapered jeans in dark wash, pairing it with white, button-up oxford and black, chelsea boots, which makes Lydia nod approvingly -happy, as she invested quite a long time to get him to wear something else other than sweatpants and old branded t-shirts he found in Goodwill.

“Here’s your hot and freshly brewed coffee, Eliza.”

The woman, still wrapped with her lime-colored towel, smiles over her pile of clothes. “Thanks Lele! I’ll drink that on my way to class.”

Lydia placed both beverages by her desk, giving Alexander a pointed glare when he tried to reach out for hers, before approaching the uneasy woman. “Having a problem with what to wear?”

Eliza let out a little groan, her hands covering her face. “Yeah, and Alexander isn’t much help. He keeps saying I look good on anything.”

“Because you are. You’ll always be beautiful to me, like the lilies they kept in the Green House.” commented the Scottish, who already sipped half of Lydia’s Mosha. He ignored Lydia’s glare once again, refocusing on proofreading the whole presentation Eliza worked so hard on.

“Alexander, that is _so_ cliche. I never expected to hear something like that from you.” 

“Haud yer wheesht, Lee!”

Rolling her eyes at his response, she mutters “Ah, to be in love.” as she crosses her arms, becoming cheeky as Eliza’s cheeks glow scarlet.

Lydia looks at the array of clothes scattered around, picking up the ones that would look good _and_ casual, a combination that will give off a professional allure while still looking chic.

“Give these a try.” she said. “It’s going to be a bit chilly today, so these will be pretty to wear. It’ll let you express your femininity while staying warm, and that top’s color looks great on you.” Lydia sees Eliza’s eyes widen as she inspect the clothes -a black velvet skirt, a black leggings, and a lime sweatshirt. Lydia opened one of her drawers she labeled her own and gave the second Schuyler a black scarf. “Pair all of these with my tuffrider boots and you’ll look perfect for the rest of the day.”

“Really?” the woman gapes.

“Yeah.” Lydia nods but begins to feel doubtful. “Why, don’t you like them? You don’t have to -like, wear them just because I said so. It’s just my opinion.”

“No, no! It’s just,” Eliza glanced over her shoulder, meeting Alexander’s baffled expression, and continued to say, “It's just you never let me borrow your boots before.”

“Oh.” _Oh,_ indeed. That has a long story but it’s something Lydia has finally, recently and proudly, coped with -but she also realized that her roommate for three years still doesn’t know why those specific boots are important to her.

Thankfully, talkative Alexander didn’t say anything.

“Well, I’m letting you use it now, aren’t I?” was all Lydia could say, with a sheepish smile.

Eliza nods, and she’s still watching Lydia carefully -opening her mouth to ask, but stopped when Alexander yelled out that she’s gonna be late soon, which prompted the Schuyler to start dressing up.

Lydia throws Alexander a thankful nod, which he shrugs off to return reviewing his girlfriend’s work.

* * *

> ‘ _I just winked at her I just winked at her I just winked at her --oh calamity!_ ’ John Laurens tried to keep a straight face as he prepared someone’s cappuccino, but the aggressive shaking of his hands was really telling enough.

His face is starting to flush as what he had done got processed by his sleep-deprived brain and he _can’t believe the audacity_ he felt to get the courage to wink at the girl he’s been crushing on since he enrolled at the start of first semester.

‘ _I can’t believe I just did that_.’ He wanted to scream, and he’s really close in doing it but focusing on the task on hand helps remind John that he’s somewhere public. ' _What if she thinks I’m a creep now?_ ’ and similar thoughts go through his head as he continued to serve customer after customer, making coffee after the nth.

Still, as the day goes on until his manager finally gives John the permission to leave for the day, he can’t forget the way Lydia William looked at him. He can’t stop thinking about it!

Walking back to Boy’s Dormitory Building-B, he passed by the basketball court with dire need of slumber. He woke up with only an hour of sleep when his manager called, asking him to substitute for Peggy since the young woman called in sick. 

Morning rush is really hard to maintain if there’s only one barista handling the crowd so John grumpily agreed to take over. 

Beside, Peggy wouldn’t miss her shift without either having a legit reason not to go to work or she _is_ feeling sick. And not to mention she trades hours with him plenty of times back in the past, so John can return the favour when she needs him to.

And as he walks by, John hears loud cheering from the gathered crowd. A team must be playing a good round to get so much attention like this, he thought. So curiously, he took a peek.

Lo and behold, John quickly recognized the green satin ribbon dangling on the young woman’s hair. Even with her back facing his direction, John can already recognize her.

The time was ticking down, 20 seconds left.

The scores are tied and everyone is watching with bated breath as George Washington’s team -consisting of Hercules Mulligan, Alexander Hamilton, Lafayette and, lastly, Lydia William -maneuvering, defending, and getting to position so they could get a score. 

“Ami!” Lafayette called out to Lydia, exposing himself as free.

She passed him the ball with a fake, which worked on the people trying to block any of her possible shots, and Hercules moved to give the Frenchman the chance to shoot a three-pointer to bring the win home. 

Lafayette dribbled and kept the ball away from the defending team, faking a shot when he realized the other team’s point guard was going to block it and pass the ball to Alexander instead.

It was a tense moment as everyone watched the ball fly as the Scot finally took his shot. 

The other team’s center tried to block the ball to bring it to their favour, but while everyone’s attention was on the ball, Lydia surprised them by showing up in their vision at the last second to dunk the ball -securing another score for her team.

Everyone cheered as the time buzzed loudly, ending the game’s last quarter with 66-68 on the scoreboard.

He was left gaping, frozen on the spot, as the other audience cheered on, congratulating the winning team with applause and chest bumps. 

John’s throat feels so dry and he feels so awestruck by what he just saw happened.

His eyes never let the young woman leave his sight while a mantra of ‘ _Oh god, oh Jesus H. Christ, she’s really hot! I didn’t know she could play ball, and she’s even really good at it! Oh calamity, just ruin me for everyone else would you? Oh fuck, did I really just think that? Holy fuck!!_ ’ goes through his head at lighting speed.

“Jack?”

John blinked as a familiar rasp of his best friend’s voice called out and he turned to see Alexander, panting and suspiciously wet -oh, a group just passed by spraying a large amount of water at everyone nearby as a prank -and he tried to smile, but a yawn interrupts it.

“A-Alex!” he shattered after, praying his face hadn’t turned into a tomato as feelings clashed with each other in his chest. “H-hi! Good game out there!”

“Yeah, Lele just saved everyone’s arse.” Alexander wiped his face with the towel around his neck. “Did you just get out of work? You’re still wearing your apron.”

“W-what?” and John looked down to see that he actually hadn’t taken his work uniform off when he left the Cafe. The revelation made him face-palm and, after a long drawled groan, he took out his phone to text one of his co-worker to pass the message to their manager about his mistake.

“ ** _Lmao, we watched you walk out with it. Also Boss said it’s cool, he knows you’re just tired_** ” Nick Price replied and John’s phone buzzed as another message pops in, “ ** _P.s, Boss said to wash it_** ”

“ ** _Thx Nicky. Yeah, I'll do that :)_** ” John typed in and sent, letting out a huff.

“ ** _No emojis_** ”

“ **:(** ”

“Busy shift?” Alexander nudges John by his ribs softly.

John yawned, nodding slowly. He feels like if he moved his head too fast, he’s gonna pass out. “Yeah, gotta catch up with sleep too.”

“Alright.” Alexander eyed him with concern, patting John’s shoulder as he told him “Well, I was gonna invite you since George said he’s going to treat us with some wings, but I’ll tell them you’re tired.”

“Maybe next time.” John shared a smile with Alexander one last time before they were interrupted by Lafayette calling out for the two of them.

John looked up to look for the Frenchman but he quickly spotted the girl standing next to him. John couldn’t help the sudden panic that took over him as his eyes connected with hers -a soft purple hue, an intelligent pair -and before he could stop himself, John glanced at the exposed freckles that went far down from her face.

Embarrassed by the betrayal of his eyes, John splattered an inaudible excuse before dashing away.

Alexander watched his friend practically jog away with a perplexed expression before looking back to the team. 

‘ _Huh_ …’ A brief thought crossed his mind as he saw Lydia’s expression -her head tilted to the side as she eyed the fleeting back before looking at him. ‘ _Eh._ ’ He shrugs it off. 

* * *

> Peggy can’t believe she’s saying this but, for real, she’s getting real tired waiting for John Laurens to take the hint. He’s too busy wistfully looking at Lydia with a far-away look to make a move!

For a guy really crushing hard on someone, he’s pretty dense in getting a hint. 

Call her impatient and tell her it’s none of her business all you want, but you folks just don’t understand that the moment John started crushing on Peggy’s first best friend? It became her sole _mission_ to set them up.

And all of this waiting is going to end up for nothing if John doesn't actually man up and talk to Lydia. 

Thankfully, the Senior girl has the patience of a saint.

The only problem is, John won’t take a risk. He keeps succumbing to his fears while Peggy has spent an hour just trying to encourage the guy. You know, just doing what a good friend would do, but his constant avoiding and refusal is starting to piss her off!

“ _Jack_!” Peggy hissed again, nudging the boy in question with more force than necessary as he tried to appear casual after being caught staring again. “Just go talk to her already, damn it.”

Dear Lydia spent her time watching the world, switching between people-watching and checking her phone, with a mug of hot cocoa at her disposal -Alexander has banned her from drinking coffee for a month so she has to alter her usual order. 

The Scot even made sure that Peggy isn’t going to give Lydia anything caffeine related, the audacity of him -bargaining with her like that. But as long as Alexander keeps his promise, Peggy is willing to comply.

‘ _He better give me that ticket for Broadway. This is for you Daveed Diggs!_ ’

Her job today isn’t just brewing and serving people their coffee without picking a fight while also making sure Lydia has her bagels, no. This isn’t just a simple day, after all, since she also has to make sure that, by the end of John’s shift, Lydia has a date.

But she might need to add ‘Get John’s eyes checked’ to her to-do list because he gotta be blind if he hadn’t caught on.

“I don’t wanna make a fool of myself, Peggy.” He muttered, pouting like a child that makes her want to hit him like one -but that would be child abuse now, is it? So she doesn’t and just **_bite_ **her lips to prevent herself from screaming through the roof.

“ _Jack_. She’s been here for two hours now.” and she can’t stress enough the fact that “She’s literally waiting for you to make a move!”

Peggy slammed her notepad, and both John and the person over the island flinched because of sudden aggressiveness.

“I just…” He fidget under -wait, John’s taller than her! But still, he feels like he shrinked by how harsh Peggy is staring down on him at the moment. “I can’t just come at her and confess that I’ve been practically stalking her every time she’s here. That would weird her out!” he cried.

“Oh for fu--esssh. That’s it!” Peggy marched away, heading towards the employee’s lounge room as she felt a forming headache pulse on her temple. She takes out her phone, fingers rapidly tapping the screen, while murmuring “I have to do everything around here.” to herself.

“Wha -Peggy! Where are you -what are you doing?”

“Nothing.” Peggy yelled back, redirecting her course to the coffee machine as she remembered that she had orders to make. Lowering her voice, she added “...Just gonna make sure you won’t miss your chance.”

As the machine buzzed back to life and started warming up, Peggy waited -tapping her feet along with her fingers. 

Her phone buzzed.

“ **A’right, is a deal** ”

“Nice.” Peggy clicks her tongue, pleased. 

She proceeded to chat up French Fries and Divine Hero by sending them an instruction. 

Lydia sighs, both hand wrapped around the warm mug. It’s currently snowing outside, the white frost from the sky blankets the campus ground and it makes her feel as if her world is a waiting canvas waiting for her painter to finally have a muse and draw colours to her void world.

The only problem is that Lydia’s painter hadn’t taken the hint.

Ah, she’s being poetic. Alexander must have finally rubbed on her with his lovesick words -like the well written paragraphs he versed for Eliza when he was ‘courting’ the Schuyler back then.

Alexander has a way with words. It’s what he used to convince Lydia to come with him. It’s the way he uses sentences like a sword, swaying people to his side. It’s a good thing, really. Alexander uses it in his journey in pursuing law like it’s destiny -like it’s already been written in the pages of his story.

But unlike him, she spent a lot of time thinking. Yesterday, she thought of everything through and connected the dots, and Peggy’s wide smile when she asked about John Laurens last night while they face-time was really giving it away.

She was so excited to know she _figured_ it all out and Peggy practically bargained with Lydia using a promised supply of bagels just to convince her to visit the Cafe today. And yeah, it wasn’t hard to make her agree to whatever scheme Peggy might be planning -the bagels helped sway Lydia, not gonna lie -because Lydia is curious.

It’s all she could think about -the short notes that came along with her coffee, the unending turtle jokes that never cease to make her laugh, the mystery that John Laurens kept up for a long time…

Was she in love?

No, Lydia doesn't think she is, _yet_ , but she is willing to start something.

...Only if _Jack_ actually talks to her some time soon.

For now, Lydia is enjoying her mug of hot cocoa, the Cafe’s heater, and her free bagels without rushing.

“Lydia~” 

The girl in question almost jumped off her seat as a voice whispered by her ear, squeaking a high pitch squeal. 

Facing the intruder, Lydia pursed her lips. “Angelica! I told you to stop doing that!”

The woman has her wavy hair pulled up by a pony tail, leaving her gorgeous face exposed. Angelica had some light makeup on and she did it in a way that highlighted her dark eyes wonderfully. 

Angelica looked cozed up with her red overcoat, which layered her white crop top. Her signature accessory, her red purse, dangled by her hips, and the soft red of her lips make head turns, boys always taking notice of its playful bite. 

Angelica Schuyler truly shows herself beautified. 

Lydia whistled, looking at the woman up and down. “Looking classy, Ange. Got a date?”

“Oh, they wish they were that lucky.” Angelica merely rolls her eyes, “But no. Thank you for the compliment anyways.” And without her smile falling, Angelica decides that Lydia’s lap is a better seat than the available ones on the booth, squeezing in between the law student and the table. 

“Oof.” She squirmed, trying to be comfortable as the woman seems to be above her. “If you’re aren’t as adorable as Peggy, I might have already pushed you off, you know that right?”

Lydia laughed with the oldest Schuyler for a moment before asking Angelica what she was doing at the Cafe.

“Just visiting Peggy, nothing major.” Angelica shrugs and notices the mug Lydia is holding. She grabs it, “Are you drinking coffee again?”

“No.” Lydia chuckles, “It’s just hot cocoa, promise.”

“Hmm.” Angelica eyed her with squinted eyes, humming as she took a sip of the beverage. “I don’t know what it is with everyone obsessing with coffee…” she started, and both of them began talking about the history of the roasted and ground seeds, animated in their conversation.

* * *

> “Distraction has commenced.” 

Peggy quickly sends in Lafayette and Hercules, who tiptoed their way through the lounge room. Thankfully Lydia was busy with talking to Angelica to notice them hurrying to the side of the building to get in by the back door.

Lafayette hurried in, always the one to the rescue, but perhaps Peggy’s message wasn’t as urgent as it seems, as the girl in question is just sitting casually on a couch, sucking on a lollipop with Kat Dahlia, I think I’m in Love, plays on speaker.

“Peggy?” Hercules followed, standing beside the tall man as he too, relaxed. He crossed his arms, raising a questioning eyebrow. “What’s going on?”

“I just woke up from my nap.” Lafayette sighs before looking around, peeking through the opened doorway that exposed the short line of customers waiting outside across the counter.

Peggy stands up, her smile fueled with mischief, before popping out the lollipop as she waved off their concerns. “Do you have what I asked for?”

Hercules looks at her with suspicion obvious on his eyes, and his body’s tension flexed his buffed arms. 

Lafayette was more docile, shrugging off his shoulder bag. He unzipped it to show its content to the girl. 

“Perfect.” said Peggy with a large grin.

“Peggy, can you just tell us what iz going on?” Lafayette insisted then, becoming concerned. He never saw that look on the young woman’s face before and now he’s afraid that he and Hercules are being included in something illegal.

The youngest Schuyler sighs, biting her lollipop to pieces. “Long story short, baby Jack has been crushing hard on Lele since he first saw her and I’ve been trying to set them up since the start of the semester.”

Lafayette passed his bag to her reaching hand.

“Ooohh.” The boys stand together with their mouths opening and closing in sync, a creepy notion that Peggy ignored for the sake of staying focused on her mission.

“That makes sense.” Hercules started as he put his attention on Lafayette, who seems a little bemused. “John keeps bailing everytime we try to get them to meet up, remember?”

Lafayette rubs his chin, nodding. “Z’ough, z’at brings z’e question of where iz John now, exactly?”

Peggy was busy on her phone but she’s well aware of the question, so she pointed to the part of the room where the changing area seems to be. “He’s right over there.”

The curtain over there seems suspiciously moving, as if someone on the other side is struggling over something.

“Nicky, please!” John’s voice cried out, definitely on the other side of the curtain. “Give me back my clothes!”

Nick Price decided to step out through the curtain at that exact moment, looking like he wrestled a bear in his uniform. 

“Sorry bud, Peggy promised me a good deal if I do this.” Facing Peggy after a job well done, he got taken back to see they had more company, but it quickly got replaced by an aloof smile. “Hey man.” he nodded at Hercules.

“Hey Nick.” Hercules nodded back to acknowledge the stoner. “You seem ahh… busy.”

John can be heard sobbing behind the curtain.

Nick chuckled as he passed all of John’s clothes, sans his underwear, to Peggy. “He’s all yours, Peg.”

He then waved to Hercules, excusing himself so he could attend to customers waiting outside the lounge room.

“So wait,” Lafayette frowned as they were given privacy, “what are we supposed to do then?”

“Are we going to lock them both inside a locker?” Hercules suggested with a hopeful expression. 

“Ah, the classic. But no, even better!” Peggy cheered, “John’s going to get his ass out there and introduce himself to the love of his life properly LIKE HE SHOULD HAVE DONE HOURS AGO!”

John cried a little louder.

“Wait, does he actually wanna do that?” asked Hercules.

“No!” yelled John, his voice like a mouse squeak the moment it cracked.

Lafayette shakes his head in disbelief, torn between laughing at his chap’s fate or cry because of John’s current misfortune. He faced Peggy, “...And so, I take it you’re forcing ‘im, z’en?” 

“Correction,” Peggy’s grins a villainous smile, “ _we_ will.”

She pulls the curtain to the side -and John squeaks once more as he was exposed, quickly grabbing the curtain to hide himself.

“Alright boys, dress him!”

It only took Hercules and Lafayette, who first shared a glance together, to shrug and do as they were told with mimicking grins.

John, oh poor little John with his wide blue eyes, could only cower as he was towered by his best amigos. “Wa-wait a minute, don't I get a say in this? G-guys? GUYS!”

Peggy felt her phone buzzed and, pulling the curtains closed, she checked her notifications with John’s squeal in the background. 

A message from Angelica.

“ **We got a small problem, sis** ”

‘ _Oh, why can’t today just give me good vibes like I asked._ ’ Peggy groaned, typing “ **wot** ”

Dots indicate that Angelica is responding, and a quick _Ping_ came along with her reply.

“ **Eliza and Alexander are here** ”

“Shit!” Peggy couldn’t help but curse, as having two overprotective figures in Lydia’s life in the frame would ruin the smooth plan Peggy had laid out for this afternoon. 

She bit her nail, a bad habit she developed in High School, as she tried to think of another way to approach the obstacle. Then deciding to take a shot in the dark, Peggy begins to type in a new message.

* * *

> “...I mean, ninety percent of the world’s coffee is grown in developing countries, with their cheap labour, while the consumption is largely in the developed industrialised nations.” Angelica stated, a frown on her gorgeous face. She crossed her arms, facing Alexander, who was sitting across her. 

“That doesn’t seem fair.” Eliza inserted, blowing on her hot cappuccino.

“Exactly!” her sister agreed.

Alexander’s inclined to bob his head and by the expression of his face alone, Lydia knew that he’s agreeing but with an opinion of his own prepared to clash with Angelica’s argument.

And he didn’t disappoint. “But it balances the economic procedure.” He started. “Think about it. If we only let the coffee beans be locally sold, the consumption rate would drop as the customers are limited to small areas where these are made.”

“Which I admit is understandable but,” Angelica sighs, leaning on the table with a thoughtful expression. “Our modern life revolves around this luxury and addictive product that gives us no nutritional value! And I just can’t shake off the fact that people grow these on their land to be exported just so other people can make a profit out of it more than they had.”

While Alexander runs on with fact, Angelica runs with moral and emotional response to certain things. They are intellectual equals that clash like beaches and ocean water, but they grew together while respecting each other’s notions.

It made their friendship special, in a way.

“These two can talk until the end of the world, can they?” and it makes Lydia wonder, if things were different and Alexander had courted Angelica instead…

But entertaining the thought seems like a betrayal to Eliza -to the woman beside her right now. So Lydia didn’t and watched Eliza by her peripheral vision while the moist mist of her cocoa hit her face.

Eliza chuckles under her breath, the love in her eyes as she watched Alexander debate with her sister is almost too pure. 

It fills Lydia with a bit of yearning.

Quietly now, Eliza said “I find it as a soothing background noise, to be honest.”

“Hah.” Lydia finished her hot cocoa, “Is that why you started dating him? Because he rambles?”

Eliza smiled, a tease hinting on her voice as she said “Maybe.”

The talkative pair remained obliviously to their own version of a conversation, which was shortly interrupted when Lydia received a notification.

She checked and saw it was from Peggy.

“ **Lele, do not throw away your shot** ”

It made her grimace, speechless -unsure even, about what she should say in return.

Alexander noticed the shift of her face and mistaken her downhearted expression as her disappointment for running out of cocoa to sip.

“You want another round?”

Lydia, thankfully, picked up on it. “Yeah, but I wanna try another drink. Oh, and is it okay if I use the bathroom?”

Alexander shrugs and says “Sure, and I’ll buy this round.”

She left them and went to the girl’s bathroom.

Lydia used a stall, pondering about what to do -what she should do. Peggy didn’t text her anything after the last message and it honestly just left Lydia perplexed about what the youngest Schuyler must be planning.

* * *

> Alexander is a man of _many_ words. He always had a lot to say, even back as a kid. Alexander just never had the chance to speak up as much. And, for a while, he coped using writing.

Because when he writes, no one will be there to interrupt him and tell him to shut his mouth. He has power, or so to say, when holding a pen. He first discovered this when he was working as a clerk at the import-export firm Beekman and Cruger.

So Peggy knew, the moment Nicky said that someone named Alexander was looking for her -she _knew_ the moment Scot waited _quietly_ -that she’s in trouble, one way or another.

She takes a deep breath and barges through the door, wide smile and all, and waved at him. “Hey-a Alex!” She skipped her way to the counter, playfully implying “You’re looking for a customer discount or something?”

Her enthusiasm, unfortunately, wasn’t reciprocated. 

“Peggy.”

And she doesn’t know when the staring began, but both of them just stand in their respectful places, leveling each other in the same height, and just _wait_ for someone to give. 

The thing about Alexander is that he knows to stand his ground, stubborn and, sometimes, prideful. Alexander got it from George Washington, adapting to his kind of confidence and just became this little dauntless version of George wherever he goes.

It’s fascinating, but also very intimidating.

“I wanna talk to you about Lydia.” He started, drumming his fingers above the island as he eyed the menu above him as he hums.

An act, she realized.

‘ _Shit shit shit shit._ ’ her mind chanted in internal panic. She pretends to laugh, asking “What ya mean?” And talking might have been a bad idea, as her voice cracked under pressure.

The bloody bastard heard it, as he raised his eyebrow knowingly at her.

No wonder he’s terrific as a law student.

“Peggy,” Alexander sighs, making sure to turn his head away from his girlfriend’s line of sight while his eyes stay on her, “I want you to understand that I’ve known Lydia for a really, _really_ long time.” _I know her_ , is what he’s trying to say. 

“O… Okay?”

He ignored her input, and continued “She’s an independent woman and a wonderful individual to get to know, isn’t she? I’m lucky to have her as my sister. Now, tell me Margaret…”

Hearing her full name from him gave Peggy shivers running down on her spine. She played with her fingers, thumb caressing the back of her other hand, to not look idle. She glanced behind her, to see Nick peeking through the doorway with a tad confusion on his face. 

Was he listening? Probably, but Peggy didn’t say anything about it. Instead, she focused on the Scot in front of her.

“For months, since the start of first semester, Lydia keeps coming back here. Why?”

“Ho-hold your horses, squirrel man.” Peggy quickly glanced at where her sisters are -Angelica is looking at their way while Eliza is busy talking animatedly to notice her older sister’s lack of attention -and whispered to Alexander “Alex, I don’t get where this is going, but you’re making it sound like it’s a bad thing for Lele to _like_ it here.”

“No, I’m --” Alexander pinch the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath. “Do you not understand how _unlikely_ that is? For her to have a permanent thing?”

Peggy frowns, feeling offended on behalf of her best friend. “Alexander, Lydia _likes_ it here. That’s why she visits when she can.” she stressed, pausing at each word as she tried to make the point obvious. “You’re making it sound like Lydia can’t _like_ things.”

“That’s just it!” Finally, Alexander couldn’t keep quiet anymore. 

Some of the consumers have started to look their way, wondering why the sudden yelling. 

“Lydia _doesn’t_ simply choose 1 out of 10. There’s plenty of coffee shops, there’s even a really good Starbucks outside the bloody campus, but she never visits that! She never goes anywhere else. Just here, but _why_ here?” Alexander’s raising his voice as he goes on, slamming his hand on the island. “Now, tell me what you know!”

Peggy gritted her teeth, pulling the man by his collar all the sudden. “You don’t get to demand things out of me, Alexander. Who do you think you are?”

Alexander’s eyes widen, surprised by the strength Peggy is showcasing and he finds himself struggling in keeping his feet on the ground as the youngest Schuyler continues to pull him over the counter.

“Peggy!” Several voices shouted at the same time.

Someone grabbed Peggy’s hands soon, fighting with her persistent grabbing before another one pulled her away from the Scot.

Alexander gasps, stumbling back and landing on his butt.

Angelica started glaring at everyone as she marched towards her rowdy friends. Thankfully, everyone else just started parting away like the red sea when they met Angelica’s eyes.

Eliza, on the other hand, runs towards her boyfriend, holding Alexander by his arms before asking if he was okay. 

“Let me at him!” Peggy yelled out, trying to escape Hercule’s hold like a feral cat.

Lafayette tried to block her sight of the Scot by standing in front of the girl, which was, honestly, a mistake on his side. “Calm down, mon caca -AAHH! DID YOU JUST BIT ME?”

Yep, a feral cat.

“Hercules?” Alexander croaked, seeing all of his friends on the other side. “La-Lafayette? John? What are you guys do-doing here?” He asked in-between his cough.

And it felt like a bullet hit Alexander at that moment.

John wore a long sleeve plain tee under his camel-topcoat, which he paired with slim, black active-inspired trousers and white plimsolls. A refreshing snug combination, awfully inspired by the same fashion magazine Lydia has been browsing with Peggy yesterday night. 

The pieces are starting to get together, as Alexander looks back and forth between Peggy and John.

John took control of the situation, telling Hercules to “Get her to the back, would you? Let her calm down a bit.” 

Without a problem, Hercules casually throws a pouting, deflected Peggy over his shoulder and returns to the employee’s lounge room with the Frenchman tailing behind.

John shared a look with Nick, who nodded his head to confirm he’ll cover for both of them if they’re boss came to check on them any time soon. 

He mouthed a “Thanks, man.” before facing his best friend. “And Alexander?”

Alexander looks up to his friend, still sitting on the floor with a gobsmacked expression.

“...We need to talk.”

John helped him back up, lending Alexander a hand before leading him outside for some privacy. 

He just hopes that everything will turn out fine. 

* * *

> Everything _did not_ turn out fine.

Alexander sat by the couch, his head hanging down as his sister towers over him.

Eliza sat with him by his side, holding his hand, but she remained quiet as Lydia verbally let out her disapproval about what Alexander did.

Everyone has gathered in the employee’s lounge room on the back of the Cafe Shop. 

John Laurens has joined the gang, a bag of ice-pack pressed on his right eye -nursing a black eye.

Hercules and Lafayette looked like a pair of boys who visited their friend’s house at the weekend to play Xbox, but are slowly realizing that they’re at the wrong place at the wrong time. 

As mentioned, Eliza is on Alexander’s side. Angelica is leaning on the doorframe with her arm crossed, looking disinterest but is actually enjoying the show while Peggy… Well, the girl seems ready to just yeet herself out of here.

They told her everything she missed before she stepped out fresh from the restroom, having spent a minute or two waiting for Peggy to respond to her chats before concluding that the girl’s job must be keeping the youngest Schuyler busy.

So she returned to their booth, only to see that no one was no longer occupying the table. Looking around, Lydia sees that some of the customers are distracted, and among them she saw Angelica and Eliza.

She approached them, not expecting Eliza to suddenly grab her by the shoulders and _interrogate_ her.

“W-what?”

“Are you dating John?” Eliza repeated her question.

Lydia blinks, glancing over the woman’s shoulder to look at Angelica, who’s smirking at her. Outside too, where she saw Alexander conversing with John Laurens.

She smiles, returning her attention to her dorm mate. “Not yet.”

“Then why -wait, what?” It’s Eliza’s turn to be gobsmacked, jaw falling as she stared at Lydia, who didn’t all seem bothered anymore.

“Yet, _yet_?” Angelica was grinning as she slung her arm over Lydia’s shoulder, pulling the girl to her side. 

Lydia meets the woman’s grin with her own, playfully rolling her eyes at the wiggling eyebrows Angelica is doing to tease her.

“Well, I do have to ask him first, right?”

“Wha -” Angelica’s voice was overthrown by the sudden squeal right in front of the two of them.

“Oh my God! Really?!” Eliza’s voice made both of them flinched. "That's so amazing!"

Alas, before Eliza could really dig on her, Lydia noticed the two figures quarreling outside. She watched as Alexander pushes John roughly, tensing as she recognized her brother’s body language.

She was too late to stop Alexander from punching John, barely in time to stop the next one. She tackled him down to the snow, yelling at him to stop. 

It was after that did more people come to help her out.

Now here they are.

“I can’t believe you’ve done this.” Lydia said with her palm covering her whole face. She can’t seem to bring herself to face everyone else.

“It’s his fault!” Alexander pointed out with a bellow, actually pointing his finger at John.

The guy in question refused to let the misunderstanding continue, standing up for himself. “Alexander, it wasn’t like that.”

“I heard you loud and clear, Jack!”

“You just misinterpret what I said!”

“The hell with that, do you think I’m stupid?” Hercules, truly a Godsend, caught Alexander before the Scot could jump on John again. “I’m not stupid!”

“ENOUGH!” Lydia cuts in, standing between them. “Alex, sit down!”

Yet, while Hercules let go of him as Lydia gestured to him, Alexander remained standing, glaring over Lydia’s shoulder -at John, who dismissed the ice-pack in favour of facing his best friend fully with sad and swelling eyes.

“ _Alexander_.”

His face softened then, as Lydia moved to the right to make sure their eyes met.

“Lee, he’s playing games with you.” Alexander said, reaching out to hold Lydia by one of her elbows. “Jack never had a girlfriend before and he wants to experiment.”

“No!” John implied, “No! I would never do such a thing to you, or -or to anyone, really!” Lydia turns to face him, and the expression on her face broke his heart. He hurried then, explaining, “Lydia, it’s true. I’ve never been in a relationship before, and it’s…”

John swallowed, looking down.

His hands are shaking and he feels like crying, knowing he already messed everything up -his chances, and maybe even lost his best friend in the process -but he took a deep breath, licking his dry lips as he gathered courage, before facing Lydia with determination.

“It scared me, to feel like this for someone I barely know, for the first time.” Lydia is looking at him with these violet eyes, so focused and firm on him, and John finally used his chance to reach out and hold her hand.

She didn’t coil away as he thought she would.

“I… I wanted to explain that, since I didn’t never have a girlfriend, I wanted to learn how -so that I can treat you better. That’s why -” John looked away from Lydia, putting his attention to Alexander, “I was going to ask for your blessing and your help, to -so I could ask _you_ -” 

John’s face becomes flushed as he sees Lydia is still looking at him with gleam in her eyes.

He cleared his throat, continuing to say “...if-if you wanted to have dinner with me, tonight?”

Alexander was frowning.

He reminisced, remembering the turtle drawing on the coffee sleeve on Lydia’s Mocha and the sticky notes with turtle jokes written on them -each one that is attached on the memo board hangs on her side of her room, which Lydia keeps like a hoarder.

And John, Alexander’s best friend -the first person who actually tolerated and listened and _befriended_ Alexander -who share the same fondness to turtles, who could only tell some corny jokes about turtles because it’s the only ones he can make, _who_ blushes whenever he refuses the times Alexander invited him to hang out so John _could finally_ meet his sister.

“Jack…” Alexander feels like a brick has fallen onto his head _because how come he didn’t realize sooner_. Of course, it’s John! He’s not some random guy that just wanted to mess around! 

God, Alexander _has_ been stupid, hasn’t he?

“No.”

The time felt like it suddenly stopped for everyone.

Eliza covered her mouth in shock, while Angelica stared at the back of Lydia’s head with her lips agape.

“W-whaaaaat?” Lafayette stretched out.

Hercules just had his mouth open.

“Lee, no!” Alexander stops Lydia from talking further. “I -I was wrong!”

Another thing that surprised everyone.

“Whaaaa- ow!” 

Hercules nudged Lafayette on the ribs to stop his drawled comment. 

The Frenchman returned the jab with a little more force, which made Hercules elbow him back. 

“Shush.” Peggy smacked them both, stopping their roughhousing.

Alexander merely ignored them, focusing on his sister. “I got this all wrong, I made a mistake. I judged Jack too soon, he-he means well! I get it now, I really misinterpreted everything!”

“Alexander…” John, who suddenly felt numb, watched as the Scot took his side. 

“Jack I…” Alexander turned to him, anger clouding his eyes -not for John, but for himself. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… accuse you and _ruin_ things. I overreacted without hearing the full story first. A-and Peggy,” He searched for Peggy’s eyes and, with the most sincere expression on his face, brought up. “...you were right, I stepped over the line. I’m sorry Peggy, I really am.”

Peggy crossed her arms, pressing them together on her chest. Her and Alexander stared at one another once again but it didn’t last long as she suggested “Two tickets to Broadway and it’s forgotten.”

Alexander chuckled softly, “I’ll make it three.”

“DEAL!” and so the return of their favourite goofy Schuyler takes place within that second, as Peggy smiled widely.

“How come she got something out of this?” Hercules whined.

Lafayette shakes his head, softly muttering “Ami, I thought you didn’t like Broadway -”

“You two wanna go together with me?” shouted Peggy.

“Hell yeah! Broadway date!” 

“Ay, mon Dieu.” Lafayette shakes his head, smiling as he follows both his beau and sweetheart out of the lounge room.

“Jack?”

The guy in question snapped out of his daze. He became unaware of his surroundings as the rejection got processed through his mind and made his chest ached.

Alexander didn’t know what else to say, so he embraces his friend despite how awkward it ends up to be. “It’s gonna be okay,” he whispered to John, “I’ll explain it to her and -”

Someone loudly cleared their throat, interrupting Alexander.

He and John then faced Lydia again, Alexander becoming sheepish as he saw her raised eyebrow. But she soon gazed down at the guy beside him.

“Lee, I --”

His sister holds her open palm up, stopping Alexander from talking.

Lydia didn’t even bother looking away from John. 

“You didn’t let me finish.”

“What?” Both Alexander and John said at the same time.

Her violet pair then sent Alexander a stern gaze, her hand doing a ‘shoo’ motion. “Do you mind?”

“O-oh, I -yeah, okay.” The Scot stepped back, returning to Eliza’s side with a sheepish smile as he rub the back of his neck.

“As I was saying…” 

John felt greedy, looking at her eyes -and he’s so close, he can see the way wind-stirred waves in Lydia’s violet eyes. He can see the gentleness, the emotion that is the form of her soul.

It makes him wonder if he’ll ever be brave enough to enter the depth, wonder if he’ll ever see Lydia like this again. 

“John Laurens.”

“Y-yes!”

“No, I will not have dinner with you as our first date.”

John bobs his head, looking away. “I understand that you don’t want to date - _wait_ , what?”

Lydia smiled at him, _actually_ smiled, and it made John’s heart skip a beat.

“I hadn’t checked out New York’s Aquarium, but I heard they have sea turtles there. Do you wanna check it out with me, tomorrow?”

‘ _I’m gonna melt_.’ He couldn’t help but let out a wistful sigh. “Yes.”

“Good.” Lydia then lifts her heels, placing a kiss on John’s cheeks, “And you better wear your beanie. It look cute on you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Can anyone of you guess who's the Coffee and who's the Turtle? owo


End file.
